Judge Is Charged in Money-Laundering Case

A Nassau County judge who is running for re-election in November was arraigned yesterday on federal money-laundering charges along with three men whom prosecutors described as mob figures.

The judge, David A. Gross, was secretly taped by the Federal Bureau of Investigation offering to use his campaign accounts to wash dirty money, but he quickly withdrew that offer, made to an undercover F.B.I. agent.

He apparently realized that large sums flowing into his re-election fund would attract too much attention, according to an affidavit outlining the sting operation. It was unsealed yesterday in United States District Court in Central Islip, N.Y.

The affidavit, which also accuses a Long Island restaurateur and 10 other men of gambling and other crimes, charges that Judge Gross helped launder $130,000 through a Freeport, N.Y., restaurant called Cafe-by-the-Sea -- money that the undercover agent indicated was the proceeds of crimes -- and helped sell diamonds and other jewelry that the agent said were stolen.

Judge Gross, 43, a Democrat who was first elected to District Court in Hempstead in 1999, was suspended from the bench yesterday because of his arrest. His tenure had been largely unremarkable, although he did write and self-publish a book, "If the Robes Fit: A View from the Bench." The cover shows him grinning in his robes before an American flag and shelves of law books, swinging a gavel into his open palm.

The judge's Web site describes him as "Our Law & Order Judge," and, according to the site, he is rated as well qualified by the Nassau County Bar Association, with a variety of political and labor endorsements, including one from the state Fraternal Order of Police.

Before his arrest, Judge Gross's chief claim to fame was his role in presiding over a drunken driving case against the father of the actress Lindsay Lohan. And in 2000, a neighbor called the police saying that the judge was showering naked with his children in his backyard. The judge sprayed a responding officer with his garden hose.

The federal affidavit includes transcripts of recordings of conversations between Judge Gross and the undercover agent, who posed as an international criminal trafficking in stolen diamonds.

According to the transcripts, Judge Gross talked about trafficking in untaxed cigarettes and gasoline, using car sales to launder money and seeking to help the agent find a buyer for what he indicated were stolen gems.

Judge Gross took thousands of dollars worth of checks from the undercover agent as part of the laundering scheme, and at one point gave him a copy of his book inscribing it, "Thanks for being my friend," according to the affidavit.

This marks the first time in 15 years that a state judge has been charged in federal court, the last being Justice William T. Martin of State Supreme Court in the Bronx. Justice Martin was convicted of tax evasion and cocaine possession.

Judge Gross's lawyer, John Carman, declined to comment on the charges.

The arrests were announced yesterday by Mark J. Mershon, an assistant F.B.I. director, and Roslynn R. Mauskopf, the United States attorney in Brooklyn. "It boils the blood and chills the spine to see a sitting judge in the midst of a mob-directed money-laundering conspiracy," Mr. Mershon said.

The arrests arose from a two-and-a-half-year gambling investigation by the F.B.I. and Brooklyn federal prosecutors that took a dramatic turn in late January when one of the organized crime figures, Nicholas Michael Gruttadauria, 62, identified as a soldier in the Genovese crime family, unwittingly introduced the judge to the undercover F.B.I. agent, according to the affidavit.

Judge Gross, whose cellular telephone was later monitored by a court-ordered wiretap, and Mr. Gruttadauria had known each other for several years, and their wives are close friends, according to two law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because federal authorities do not permit them to discuss matters that are not included in court papers.

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During the course of the investigation, Mr. Gruttadauria was picked up on another wiretap talking about dining with the judge and an acting captain in the Genovese crime family at the Parkside Restaurant in Queens. The restaurant is owned by Anthony Federici, a man federal authorities have identified as a Genovese family captain and Mr. Gruttadauria's mob supervisor, one of the officials said.

Mr. Gruttadauria introduced the judge to the undercover agent, over dinner Jan. 27 at the Garden City Hotel in Garden City, N.Y., the affidavit said. That dinner was followed by two more meetings involving the judge and the undercover agent over the next two days in the agent's room at the hotel, which a law enforcement official said were secretly videotaped and tape recorded. Mr. Gruttadauria attended the first meeting, but not the second.

At the second session, the conversation eventually turned to the judge's possible assistance in laundering money from what the agent said was a stolen diamond scheme. Judge Gross proposed a plan under which the undercover agent would pose as a political consultant and fund-raiser, according to the affidavit.

The illicit money from the diamond scheme would be deposited in Judge Gross's campaign fund account, disguised as contributions, and the judge would write a check to the undercover agent purporting to be payment for his services, the affidavit said.

For this service, the agent would be charged a laundering fee that the two men would negotiate. "The whole point," the judge said, according to the affidavit, "is to make it look legitimate."

Later, though, the judge seemed to see a flaw in his own proposal, noting that the diamond scheme proceeds -- disguised as bogus contributions -- would have to be publicly reported by his campaign.

The judge told the undercover agent that people looking at the records would be stunned and ask "who is this guy that can raise this kind of money, and everyone else will come and try to hire you."The undercover agent, and then laughed, according to the affidavit.

Eventually, most of the money was laundered through the Freeport restaurant of Kim Brady Land, who was also charged in the case, and the judge received a $500 finder's fee, and a 15 percent fee for part of the money, according to the affidavit.

Judge Gross's suspension, ordered yesterday by the chief administrative judge of the state, Jonathan Lippman, will remain in effect pending further action by the New York State Court of Appeals, said David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the State Office of Court Administration.

Wearing tan slacks and a blue shirt, Judge Gross was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay in Central Islip, along with Mr. Gruttadauria and the other defendants.

Judge Lindsay released Judge Gross on $500,000 bond, secured by his house in Long Beach, N.Y. He was ordered to surrender his passport and a pistol, for which he has a concealed weapon permit, and limited his travel to Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.

Correction: October 5, 2005, Wednesday A report in the Metro Briefing column on Sept. 22 about David A. Gross, a Nassau County judge charged with money laundering, referred incorrectly to a ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals. It allowed Judge Gross to continue being paid; it did not reinstate his salary, which had never been stopped. The report also referred imprecisely to a previous action taken by the state's chief administrative judge. (The same error appeared in an article on Aug. 31.) The administrative judge ordered Judge Gross off the bench but did not formally suspend him; only the Court of Appeals has the power to do that.